Bear Uses Tree as Back Scratcher in North Carolina Backyard

A tree in a North Carolina backyard proved to be the perfect back scratcher for an itchy black bear, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j8Ei0bnpuQ recent footage shows. David Oppenheimer - who regularly https://newswire.storyful.com/?search_term=David%2520Oppenheimer encounters black bears at his Asheville home - told Storyful that he was alerted to the furry visitor's presence by the motion activated cameras on the house. "I saw the bear walk over to the bird bath and have a drink, and it then walked fully around the house and into the backyard," he said. Oppenheimer said that the bear stopped at the dogwood tree to scratch its back and to tag it with its "scent", before it sat down and started scratching its paw on the ground. He mentioned never seeing a bear scratching its paw like this, and that he was unsure if the paw had a "thorn or itch". (Footage by David Oppenheimer/Storyful via Getty Images UGC)